A FORMER chairman of Barwell Conservatives has pleaded guilty to sending false emails to the police and will be sentenced next month.

Andrew Ferryman, formerly known as Tory parish councillor Drew Fellowes, admitted two charges - giving false details on a notice of intended prosecution and sending false emails to the police which resulted in the arrest of an innocent third party - at Lincoln Crown Court. The 44-year-old, who now lives in Retford, Nottinghamshire, will be sentenced at Lincoln on December 21.

Ferryman hit the headlines in The Hinckley Times in September 2009 when he was known as Drew Fellowes and naked photos of him appeared on a Facebook page later found to be a fake.

He said he was not ashamed of the 11-year-old photos taken on a private holiday in an exclusive lagoon at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, adding that he had never had a Facebook account which he had very little time for and, in his case, contained “gross” inaccuracies.

He said at the time: “Even a Conservative branch chairman is entitled to swim naked in such an exotic, idyllic and private location although at that time I held no office within the party.”

Ferryman stepped down from Barwell Parish Council after moving from the area in April 2010.